


The Show Must Go On

by cafe80s



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Theatre, F/M, Modernised Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet References, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2019-07-10 22:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15959189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafe80s/pseuds/cafe80s
Summary: Phineas and Isabella had never liked each other. A new musical at school puts them both in lead roles, and after a small rivalry a special sort of bond forms between them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m a sucker for cliché stuff. You may have noticed.

“And… auditions for the fall musical are open on Friday after school, so if any of you want to be a part of that, you’ve gotta go.”

Phineas leant back in his chair, nodding at his brother, who nodded back. He and Ferb always took part in theatre productions; Phineas always acted and Ferb did behind the scenes stuff. 

“Y’know what,” Isabella quietly said to Adyson on the other side of the class. “I’m gonna audition again this year. Maybe I’ll even beat Phineas Flynn to the lead role!”

“Good luck with that,” Adyson replied. “He’s amazing. He can sing without even needing a mic or a metronome.”

“Well, I’m gonna prove you all wrong. I’m gonna audition and see what happens.”

“Wonder what the lead role is,” Phineas said to Ferb. “Hopefully someone with strong vocals. I could definitely do that this year.”

”I’m sure you’ll get something you’re after,” said Ferb. “It’ll be a great production this year.”

”How do you know?” Phineas asked, leaning over to his brother.

”Oh, I haven’t been told anything about it yet, but every year’s always better than the last, right?”

Phineas nodded, squinting slightly. “Yeah. Sure.”

”Oh, I forgot to mention,” the homeroom teacher announced from her desk at the front. “There’s a sign-up sheet for it at the theatre office. You gotta go and sign up before you audition otherwise you don’t get to. Y’know, it’s just so they know who and how many people are gonna do it.”

The bell rang, ending homeroom. There was a sudden burst of conversation from most students as they left the room.

”Have a good day, guys,” the teacher said, reclining in her seat.

”I’m getting excited now,” said Isabella as she left with her friends. “But it would just _suck_ if I had to perform with Phineas Flynn. I wanna beat him to that role so bad.”

”Why do you want to be lead so badly?” Holly asked.

”He’s been lead like, four years in a row! Now that we’re seniors, I just think it’s fair if someone else got a turn, that’s all.”

__________________

Isabella waltzed up to the sign-up sheet after school. She whipped a sparkly pink pen out and wrote her name underneath all the other kids who dared to audition. As she turned to leave, she saw Phineas walk up to the sheet as well.

”Oh, you’re auditioning?” She said sarcastically. “What a surprise, maybe you’ll get the lead.”

”Yeah, I hope so,” he returned. “Hope you get an ensemble part. At least.”

Isabella scoffed. “Huh!” She tossed her hair and sharply turned away, her shoes clacking down the empty hallway.

Phineas clicked his black pen and wrote his own name in small letters underneath Isabella's obnoxious handwriting. Ferb and Baljeet appeared behind him as he put his pen back in his pocket.

"Oh, hey guys," he said, hitching his backpack up higher on his shoulder. "We goin' home?"

"Sure," said Ferb, peering at the sheet on the wall behind his brother. "Isabella Garcia-Shapiro's auditioning?"

Phineas glanced back at the list briefly. "Uh, yeah. She's hoping for a pretty good part, I think."

"I hope she does not get the lead," Baljeet said. "You are always better for lead roles than her. Even in last year's one she was an ensemble character and tried to stand out. I do not even do theatre and I know that is not right!"

"Don't worry, guys. I'm sure she won't get a lead role. Gosh, can you imagine if we had to work together? I know she'd try to make it hard for me."

The door of the office opened beside them, and the theatre teacher popped out. "Oh, hey Phineas! I was hoping you'd audition. This year's musical is a little different." He pulled out a thick wad of paper, and handed it to Phineas. "It's the script. Have a go at reading some of the lines for your audition on Friday.”

Phineas skimmed the front page of the script with his eyes. _Romeo and Juliet: The Musical!_ “Oh, uh, thanks! I’ll definitely use this for my audition. Thanks!”

Mr S smiled, and closed the door of the office.

”Romeo and Juliet?” Baljeet said, reading the script cover. “Wow.”

”Gosh, I really want this part. I mean… Mr S did say it was a little different. Maybe it won’t be too traditional.” He flicked through the pages, skimming through the dialogue. “Oh. This is all… modern English.”

”Won’t that be easier to do?” Ferb asked.

”Actually, yeah it will. Shakespearean crap is so hard to read and to recite.” Phineas was smiling now. “I think this year will be my best one yet.”

__________________

The few days before the auditions went so quickly that Phineas almost couldn’t learn some of his lines from the section he’d picked.

”Alright, welcome everybody!” Mr S stepped out onto the stage of the theatre; all the auditioning kids in the seats in front of him. “This is just gonna be in order of the list, so let’s get right into it!” Mr S looked down at his clipboard. “Looks like we have little Melissa up first.”

A girl with blonde hair and big eyes came onto the stage, beaming. “I’m auditioning for the role of Juliet!”

“Oh, uh…” Mr S hesitated. “Ok. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Melissa mimicked a British accent (badly) and Phineas put his face in his hand. _Christ! How can she be this bad?_ She consistently looked at her palm, reading the blue ink from the wrinkles in her hand.

”Uh… thank you, Melissa,” Mr S said, looking at his clipboard again. “Next up is Django!”

The mouse-haired boy stepped up onto the stage with a grin. “I’m auditioning for the role of Mercutio.”

”Oh, nice! Go ahead, Django.”

He recited his lines perfectly, and Phineas saw a satisfied smile on Mr S’s face. _Guess he’s getting that part._

”Thanks heaps! Uh, next is Phineas.”

Phineas bounded up to the stage, the place he felt most comfortable in the whole theatre. His smile widened. “As expected, I’ll be auditioning for the part of Romeo.”

”Take it away!” Mr S announced from his seat.

“As yonder lady over her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, and, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night.”

“Absolutely great work, Phineas. Thanks!”

Phineas grinned and bounded back to his seat, feeling satisfied.

Mr S looked back at his clipboard. “Next is Isabella Garcia-Shapiro!”

Phineas could feel Isabella’s burning eyes on him as she tiptoed up onto the stage. “I’m auditioning for the role of Juliet,” she said, shuffling her feet along the floor slightly. She seemed slightly irritated.

”Alright, Isabella!” Mr S said, hyping her up.

She cleared her throat before she began. “'Tis almost morning; I would have thee gone: and yet no further than a wanton's bird; who lets it hop a little from her hand, like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves. And with a silk thread plucks it back again, so loving-jealous of his liberty.”

”Wonderful job there,” Mr S said with a polite smile. “Thank you.”

Isabella smiled at him, and went to sit back down in her seat.

The auditioning process continued for the rest of the hour, until Mr S had seen everybody that had been wanting to play a part.

Mr S got up on the stage to address everybody. “Alrighty, so I’ll make decisions over the weekend, and I’ll post the cast list on Monday morning, okay? Cool, everybody have a great weekend! You’re all free to go.”

There was collective chatter as the students left the auditorium. Phineas left with Ferb, and as soon as they were out of earshot of everybody, Ferb began to speak.

”Listen, I know this goes against everything we think about her, but Isabella’s performance was good. As in, _really_ good. She might even get the part.”

”She won’t,” Phineas said quickly and sharply. “Surely there’s somebody else who auditioned for Juliet. Expect for Melissa, who is very clearly off the table.”

”There weren’t too many auditions for that. And the other ones were terrible, can’t you admit?”

”Yeah, I guess I can.” Phineas sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to wait til Monday to know.”


	2. Chapter 2

“What! Why isn’t it posted yet? I need to see that list!”

“Be patient, Phineas. You got upset last year when the same thing happened and everything turned out fine. This year will be the same, I’m sure.”

Phineas sighed, and the office door opened. Mr S popped out with a piece of paper in his hand.

”Oh, hey fellas! I’ve got the list here.” He pinned it up on the wall with a thumb tack, and disappeared back into his office without another word.

”Alright,” said Ferb. “Are you ready?”

Phineas hadn’t looked yet, but he felt much more nervous now than any other year. “Okay,” he said, looking up at the sheet.

_Romeo - Phineas Flynn_

_Juliet - Isabella Garcia-Shapiro_

_Mercutio - Django Brown_

Phineas only read the first three before shaking his head in fear. “No, no, no! This can’t happen! Ugh!”

Ferb looked defeated. “I… well, uh… goodness. I honestly don’t know what to say.”

”Not only am I working with her, she’s my love interest? God, I can’t believe this!”

Isabella trotted up to them, anticipating the list. Phineas and Ferb moved away a few paces as she peered at the sheet.

She was as gobsmacked as Ferb. “I… what? Seriously?” She knocked on the office door, and glared at Phineas.

“Wha-- I didn’t do anything!” Phineas said defensively.

Mr S poked his head out again. “Is there something I can help with, Isabella?”

”Yeah, there is actually. Is it okay if I talk to you about the cast list?”

”Oh, of course. Phineas, did you need to come in too?”

”I, uh…” he stuttered. Ferb elbowed him over to Mr S and Isabella. “Uh, yes.”

“Alright, come in.” Mr S opened the door for the two teens, and they sat in the two chairs opposite Mr S’s large leather one on the opposite side of the desk.

“Right, what’s the problem?” Mr S asked, putting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his fist.

”You can’t make me work with Phineas,” Isabella said. “You just can’t! He’ll try to be the star of the show, when it’s really two main parts!”

”No, I won’t. See, this is why I don’t want to work with you because you make excuses like this. I don’t wanna work with her either.”

Mr S huffed. “I’ve set the cast list accordingly. You’re both perfect for each role. And I know that in the past you haven’t gotten along. But I’d really appreciate it if you two could work together.”

”Impossible,” Isabella muttered.

”I… is there any possibility of changing the roles?”

”The decision I’ve made is final. Everybody on that cast list fits into their roles perfectly, especially you two. I don’t want to have any fighting among my cast, okay? So please do me a favour and try to get along! I’m not asking the universe of you!”

“Alright,” Isabella mumbled. “But I have to… pretend like I’m in love with him?”

”It’s the whole part of your role, Juliet,” said Phineas. “It’s called acting.”

”And it’s also called putting up with bullshit,” Mr S interjected. “So if you want this to be your best performance yet, I’d like it if you could get along. Alright?”

”Yes,” the two teenagers chorused.

Phineas got up from his chair, and Isabella followed him out of the office. Ferb was waiting for his brother, and saw the look of disappointment on his face.

”What happened?” Ferb asked quietly as they walked down the hall.

”He pretty much said that the list is final, and there’s nothing we can do to change it.”

”What about working with Isabella?”

”He said we have to try to get along unless we want the play to be bad.”

”Eh, do you want a good performance or someone to keep hating?”

”You got me there!” Phineas laughed. “C’mon, let’s go to class.”

____________________

Django jogged up to Phineas at lunch, and smiled. “Hey, good job on getting the lead!”

”Oh, thanks dude. Nice job getting Mercutio!”

”I know! I’m really excited. He’s been my favourite character in this play forever, and it’s always been a dream of mine to play him. It’s a shame you have to do yours with Isabella, though. I know she’s gonna try and make it hard for you.”

”I hope not,” Phineas replied. “I’m gonna try and make it as easy as possible, for the both of us.”

”Well, good luck! The first rehearsal’s on tomorrow after school, by the way.”

”Oh, thanks for letting me know!” Phineas grinned at Django. “See you then!”

Django beamed. “See ya,” he said as he turned away.

”Nice kid,” said Ferb. “At least he’s got Mercutio. You two are gonna hit it off, I reckon.”

”Yeah… I don’t really wanna stray too far from Isabella. Y’know, how she’s my love interest in the play. I gotta make a bond with her.”

”Wait, is that really what Mr S told you to do?”

”No, I just-- I’m gonna try and make it work, no matter how much Isabella doesn’t want to.”

”Alright. Just don’t fall in love, okay?”

”Huh, like that should be difficult.”

________________

Ferb heard his brother mumbling, lay back on his bed with the thick script held above him. There were a few grunts and “pshh’s” as he murmured his way through the lines.

”How’s it going?”

Phineas looked over at Ferb. “I have to learn like ten new songs for this. Romeo and Juliet isn’t even a musical!”

”Mr S is just having fun with this year’s production. It’s something that hasn’t ever really been done before. And the fact it’s literally just the plot and the character’s names is pretty much all the Shakespeare that’s in it.”

“Yeah, I guess this _is_ my last one, so I should take it more seriously.” Phineas’s face lit up. “Hey! How about you do some of the other character’s lines and I can do mine.”

”Sure. Why not?”

The two brothers spent the next hour and a half relaying the script to one another, with over-the-top gestures and announciation. Most of the gaps in speech were filled with laughter as the boys made fun with the script.

”Oh, that was the most fun I’ve had in a while,” Phineas said, wiping his eyes from tears of laughter. “It’ll be better when I’m not making fun of the script, though. I won’t feel the need to burst into laughter because of extravagant script-reading.”

Ferb sighed happily. “How ‘bout we grab a juice?”

”Sure!” said Phineas. The brothers travelled downstairs and into the kitchen, and lounged in the kitchen sipping orange juice.

Phineas heard a knock at the front door “Uh… I’ll get it.” He curiously stepped over to the front door and opened it to see Isabella standing on the other side, holding her fat script.

”Listen. I know we’ve never gotten along and we probably will stay the opposite of friends after this musical, but I was wondering if you wanted to go through our scenes together?”

Phineas couldn’t find any words to say. _Why would she want to do this?_

”I just want to make Mr S happy,” Isabella said without needing any encouragement. “I realised that he works really hard for these productions and I’d just like to make it easier for him.”

“Oh, uh…” Phineas pondered. “Well, I did just go through them with Ferb, but I guess I can do it again with you.”

”Great!” Isabella said, perhaps a little too excitedly. “How about in your backyard? It’s not such a bad day out there.”

Phineas glanced out the window. “Yeah,” he said, looking back at Isabella. “Let’s do it.”


	3. Chapter 3

Isabella hated to admit it, but she ended up really enjoying her time reading through the script with Phineas. It turned out that they actually got along when they weren't at each other's necks.

After going through their script a few times, Isabella sat with her legs sprawled on the grass, watching the sunset. "I haven't been outside for a sunset in months. It's nice."

Phineas felt an odd emotion. He didn't think it was happiness, but it was such a strange feeling that he couldn't pin a word to it.

"Wanna come inside for a snack or something?" he asked, slowly walking backwards to the sliding door.

"Yeah, sure," Isabella replied, standing up and brushing the grass off her legs. "I might head home after, though. Mom's probably waiting for me."

"Cool! All good," Phineas said, sliding the glass door open and stepping through. Isabella followed him inside, looking around at all of the decor and furnishings around their living room and kitchen.

“Hey, I hate to be rude, even though we both know that’s how we are to each other, but I was wondering if we could keep this time together a secret from the rest of the cast. And Mr S.”

”Why’s that?” Phineas said, pouring orange juice into two glasses.

”Well… we just have a public hatred for each other, that’s all. People might freak out and think we’ve suddenly become best friends if we somehow have great chemistry on stage.”

”Well, considering the way you’re speaking to me now, without any insults or hair flicks, I’d say we don’t have so much conflict between us.”

Isabella narrowed her eyebrows and stared at the kitchen bench in thought. “I guess you’re right. I’m just a little afraid of what might happen when we start acting all friendly at rehearsal. Is that gonna be the drama that sweeps through the school?”

”We’ll tell them exactly what Mr S told us to do. To try and get along. They’ll just think we’ll be putting up an act til the end of the production, and then we’ll go back to our enemy sitch.”

”You think that’ll work?” Isabella said.

”Sure! Just one rule. No matter what happens, you’re not allowed to fall in love with me.”

Isabella crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Are you really quoting Brooklyn Nine-Nine?”

”Of course. But I’m serious!”

Isabella smiled and blushed slightly. “Alright. I’ll keep it in mind.”

__________________

Phineas held his fat script between his fingers as he and Django walked to the hall for their very first rehearsal.

”Excited?” Phineas asked, looking at his friend.

”Definitely. This is my biggest dream come true so I don’t want to ruin it or put any kind of damper on it.”

”It’s gonna be okay,” Phineas replied. “This year will be the best production for sure.”

”How do you know?” Django looked over at Phineas.

”I have complete confidence in Mr S and the whole crew this year.”

”What about Isabella?”

Phineas hesitated. “What about her?”

”Come on, everybody knows you two have been in a feud forever. Don’t tell me that’s stopped because you’re each other’s love interests in the play.”

Phineas stayed quiet.

”Well?” Django’s face fell. “Wait… it has, hasn’t it? Phineas!”

”Alright, keep your voice down,” Phineas said, hunching slightly. “But… yes. We went over our lines together yesterday and it turns out that we are cool with each other. But don’t say anything.”

”Oh, okay. Yeah, I can totally keep that a secret.”

They stepped into the theatre, and Mr S smiled widely when he saw Phineas.

”Ah, the star of the show! Welcome, Phineas. Have you seen Isabella yet?”

”No, not yet. I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

”Alright,” said Mr S. “Just remember what I told you yesterday. Work together, not against each other.”

”Well, you know what they say,” Phineas said. “The show must go on!”

”Exactly!” Mr S grinned and made his way to the front of the hall.

Phineas heard quick footsteps coming through the door, and turned to see Isabella racing in with her script.

”I’m not too late, am I?”

”No, we’ve barely started.” Phineas smiled at her. “You’re good.”

Isabella smiled back softly.

”Alright people, let’s get this started! I want to just go through this whole thing once and then work on stuff that’s a bit harder.” Mr S announced. “Can I have the Montague gang and the Capulet gang over here?”

The kids from each family made their way to both sides of the stage. They stumbled their way through the lines, and Mr S stood in front of the stage with his head in his hand.

”Don’t worry about them, Mr S,” Phineas said. “We’ve got heaps of time ‘til this gets better, don’t worry.”

"God, I hope you're right." Mr S sighed.

Phineas slowly wandered back to Isabella, who was standing near the back holding her script against her chest.

"Hey," he said quietly. "What do you think of these kids?" He gestured vaguely at the stage.

"Truthfully," she sighed, "I don't think they're so great. But I'm hoping for Mr S's sake they improve."

"Same," Phineas replied, then he started to flick the corners of his script slowly. "I'd say we're probably the only kids who know our lines already. Well, us and Django."

They both looked up at the stage, watching a kid from the Capulet gang stutter through his lines. There wasn’t a whole lot of students to choose from for the musical but Mr S had quite clearly “made do” with what he had.

When it got to the scene of the party, Phineas and Isabella bounded onto the stage, grinning. It was finally their turn to showcase their talent for the first time.

The redhead barely looked at his script through the scene, and Mr S’s eyes lit up. He looked so proud of both Phineas and Isabella because of knowing their lines already.

Phineas caught Mr S’s expression and shot him a grin. He wasn’t sure exactly if it was for him getting along with Isabella or knowing his lines well already, but he was glad he made Mr S feel happy.

Mr S checked his watch when the scene was over. “Alright, we’ll leave it there, and come back tomorrow. Have a good night, everyone!”

Phineas tucked his script into his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. He found Isabella leaving at the same time. “Hey, uh, do you wanna walk home together?”

Isabella’s face fell. “I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go to my mom’s work, but maybe tomorrow?”

”Oh, yeah! Of course,” Phineas said, scratching his ear. “See you later, then.”

Isabella smiled quickly and left the hall. Django came up behind Phineas and smirked.

”There’s something there, dude. Go and get it!”

”She’s going to her mom’s work, I can’t.” Phineas looked at his friend. “Oh, wait… you mean it like… no! Are you serious? I don’t like her, Django. She’s just… becoming my friend, that’s all.”

”Yeah, right.” Django teased. “You guys practice your lines together one time and fall in love.”

”Shut up,” Phineas said, gently shoving Django.


	4. Chapter 4

Phineas didn’t stop thinking about what Django had said for a while after that. When he got home, he went up to his room and was greeted by Ferb sitting at his desk, flicking through a book.

“How was it?” Ferb asked without looking up.

“Alright,” Phineas replied, “some of them suck, but I guess we knew that was gonna happen.”

“There’s still a while til the actual show,” Ferb said, putting his book down and facing his brother. “How was Isabella?”

“Why do you care?”

“Why do you care that I care?” 

Phineas narrowed his eyebrows and started taking stuff out of his bag. “She was ok. Nothing great happened at all, really.”

“Mr S?”

“Pleased with my acting, not so pleased about the sophomores’ acting.”

“Pretty standard first rehearsal then, I guess?” Ferb said, picking up his book again. 

Phineas chuckled slightly. “Yeah.”

___________________

The next school day passed by in a flash, and the cast of the play reunited in the hall. Phineas, Django and Isabella stood together as Mr S gave an overview of what was going to happen that afternoon.

”So, we’re gonna pick up where we left off, and just keep going with it, okay?” Mr S clapped once. “Let’s go!”

Mr S seemed fairly fine throughout the performance, and it seemed he was getting used to how poorly the younger students were acting. By the end of it, he simply smiled, gave his thanks, and dismissed everyone.

Phineas caught Isabella’s attention from across the crowd of people leaving the hall by raising his eyebrows and motioning toward the outside. She nodded and smiled at him, and they met up beside the exit, out of earshot.

”Are you still keen for walking home?” Phineas asked, gripping onto his backpack straps.

“Uh, sure! Sorry, I forgot that you asked that yesterday.”

The pair started walking around the front of school and down the street. It was pretty quiet except for the odd car that drove past and the chirping of birds in trees above them.

”Forgive me for asking,” Phineas said, “but why did we hate each other?”

Isabella thought for a moment, and sighed. “I was always jealous that you were so popular in the theatre department. And I think you got mad because I kept trying to get in on your cool relationship with Mr S. Then, I guess, it was just a typical rivalry for the main part.”

”Huh.” Phineas thought, looking up into the trees. “How wild is it that less than two weeks ago, we were fighting like little kids? Now we’re each other’s love interests.”

Isabella’s eyes widened.

”Uh… in the play! I meant-- we’re Romeo and Juliet!” Phineas was very red in the face. He cleared his throat. “Love story.”

Isabella chuckled lightly. “I guess now that we both have main parts and I’m actually getting to be around Mr S more, I don’t hate you for it. I think I’m cool with it.”

Phineas just smiled at the ground. He didn’t really know how to respond. He was just glad that he wasn’t really a rival with her anymore.

He stuck his hand out to her. “Friends?”

Isabella smiled. “Friends.”

__________________

The two teenagers parted ways when they got to their houses, and closed their front doors at the same moment. Ferb was looking out the dining room window watching both his brother and his new ‘friend’ depart from each other.

”What’s going on with you two?” he said a few moments after Phineas came inside. “Did you just walk home together?”

Phineas couldn’t help but go red in the face. He wasn’t even embarrassed or flustered, he just hated that Ferb thought there was something romantic happening between himself and Isabella. “We walked home together because we live across the street from each other. It just made sense, okay?”

”Yes, and Baljeet lives a block away from us but does he go home with me? No, he doesn’t. We’ve known him for yonks.”

”Hey, we’ve known Isabella for ages, too! How is it any different?”

”Because we’re actually _friends_ with Baljeet. Isabella has been nothing but rude to you since first grade. Suddenly the opportunity to work in close proximity as each other’s love interests crops up and you can’t keep your eyes off each other? An 11 year rivalry doesn’t just end like that.”

”Yeah, but…” Phineas stopped himself.

Ferb raised his eyebrows. “What?”

”We’ve grown up. We aren’t stupid and childish anymore. We’ve been able to see past our differences. We’re actually friends now. Can’t you just be happy for me?”

Ferb studied his brother for a moment, then looked away. “Whatever.”

Phineas stormed past him and ran up the stairs to his room, pulling the door shut.

_Could I really be in love with her already?_

________________

Phineas tossed and turned all night, replaying his situation over and over again. For crying out loud, he was in a feud with Isabella for eleven years and he fell in love with her the instant they started being friendly!

He needed to vent. But he just didn’t know who to. Ferb obviously wasn’t an option, but he didn’t know if he could trust Django. Baljeet would have tried to twist his mind and tell him it was just Isabella being friendly.

The weekend passed quickly, and all Phineas has done was read his lines over obsessively, trying to put Isabella out of his mind. He couldn’t cope with the fact he was suddenly friends with her. It just didn’t make sense.

_I just… I love her friendly side. She’s so sweet and kind. Her jealous side is awful to be around. The fact we’re friends now means I probably never have to see that again._

Monday morning rolled around and another rehearsal took place after school. Phineas and Django already had a routine of walking to the hall together and then meeting Isabella there. Django loved to see them interact, even when it was just the two of them looking at each other.

For the first time, the rehearsal went well, and there was barely any stuttering from the sophomores. Mr S was ecstatic.

”Phineas, do you wanna walk home again?”

The teen in question breathed in suddenly. “Yeah!” He said in an almost squeaky voice. “Uh… I just gotta talk to Django for like, two minutes first.” He tugged on Django’s sleeve and pulled him into the foyer of the hall.

“What’s going on, man?” Django asked, concerned for his friend. “Is this about… her?”

”Yes. I’m head-over-heels in love with her.”

The sandy-haired boy’s eyes widened. “Geez!”

”I know!” Phineas said, slightly panicked. “I can’t stop thinking about her. At all! I’ll be in the middle of physics and can’t stop imagining her entire physique, and voice, and face and lips and--”

“Uh, right… yeah. I get it.” Django awkwardly placed a hand on Phineas’s shoulder. “Just… go home with her today. If you feel confident enough, maybe talk it out with her. See if she reciprocates. If you don’t think she does, don’t mention it. Maybe just talk about something completely unrelated. Just don’t think about any of your kissing scenes.”

Phineas froze. “Now I can’t stop thinking about our kissing scenes.”

They hadn’t done an actual kiss yet, neither Phineas nor Isabella wanted to until at least the dress rehearsal. There was still a couple of months until the actual thing, so there was time for both of them to get psyched up for it.

Now that Phineas couldn’t keep his mind off her, it was hard to not just kiss her right then an there. But they had shaken on it. They were just _friends._ And he had promised Ferb he wouldn’t fall in love with her.

This was the worst place - emotionally - he’d been in his life. He really liked Isabella. But he was just so emotionally torn.

Phineas quickly walked back over to Isabella and grinned. They exited the hall together, and the redhead looked over his shoulder at Django who gave him a quick thumbs up and a raise of his eyebrows.

Isabella looked up at him. “All good?”

”Uh, yeah. Just something I had to ask about the play, that’s all.”

Isabella nodded in understanding. “It’s been nice to walk home with someone recently.” she said, almost out of the blue. “My whole friend group lives on the other side of school.”

Possible replies to her statement buzzed around Phineas’s head for a few seconds before he decided on one. “Yeah, I like to walk home with you too. You’re like an old friend. Expect you’re kind of a new friend, really.”

Isabella smiled at the ground and after a few moments of quiet, she broke the silence. “Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t know. Literally anything.”

”Geez, where do I think to? I feel like you probably know a lot about me already.”

”Pick something obscure. Like… your favourite food when you were a kid.”

”Easy,” Phineas said. “Grilled cheese.”

”Oh, I could totally go for one of those right now!”

”Why don’t you come round to mine and we could make some?” Phineas suggested without a second of thought.

“Sounds good.”

”Tell me something about yourself, Isabella. Something interesting.”

She hesitated. “…I was a Fireside Girl for almost 9 years. I got every single patch. Even the ones that are specific to other countries.”

”Impressive.”

Almost as soon as Phineas had said the last syllable of the word, Isabella’s phone started to ring. “Shoot! I gotta take this. It’s my mom.”

They kept walking as Isabella talked to her mother, and all Phineas could hear was “yeah”, “okay” and “yup” for a minute or so.

”Okay, mom. See you soon. Bye.” Isabella hung up the phone and looked at Phineas with a look one could only describe as sad annoyance. “I’ve gotta go to mom’s work to help out. Guess those grilled cheeses will have to wait. I’ll see you later, okay?” She patted his shoulder.

 _Well, that’s good and bad,_ Phineas thought as Isabella walked in the other direction. _I don’t have to pretend like I’m not in love with her. But I don’t get to spend time with her to actually get to know her._

_A life in love sure is lonely._


	5. Chapter 5

Isabella burst through her bedroom door and immediately fell onto her bed. It had been a rough shift. Customers were annoying, and they had run out of tomatoes halfway though the night. But she was finally home.

“Isa!” Vivian called from the kitchen.

“Yeah?” Isabella called, her voice muffled though her pillow and half-sleepiness. She rolled off the bed, pushed herself off the floor and scuffed into the kitchen.

“I know it’s late, and you want to go to bed, but have you got anything you need to do for school tomorrow? Any homework?”

“I have a free period tomorrow morning. I’ll just do stuff then,” she stifled a yawn. “I’m going to bed whether I have homework or not.”

Vivian narrowed her eyebrows, but let her daughter go to bed regardless. “Have a good sleep.”

”Night, Mom.” Isabella slumped back to her room and checked her phone to see that Adyson had been texting her.

_why are you hanging out with phineas so much recently??_

Isabella pursed her lips while possible replies flicked around her mind. She knew the answer. She just really didn’t want to admit it to either Adyson or herself.

_Theatre practice, obvs. It’s easier to just go through our lines together._

It was so frustrating for her to have to explain that there wasn’t anything romantic happening between her and her ex-rival. The whole situation was insane, really. Being annoyed at Phineas for almost 11 years because he was favoured by theatre teachers had just stopped. How often could that even happen?

Isabella’s phone buzzed. _alright, just be careful. he could be playing, u never know!_

”He’s not playing,” Isabella said to herself quietly. “But I don’t know what he’s feeling.”

______________________

The next morning, Isabella walked down the hall past Mr S’s office. The door was open, which was a very rare occurrence. He was usually hunched over his laptop in the almost-dark room, madly typing emails to so many different people.

This time he was sitting at his desk with his laptop, but not hunched. He would occasionally look out the door as if he was hoping a certain someone would walk by. And then he finally saw her.

”Isabella!” He called, catching her attention and startling her.

She spun around, tiptoeing over to the door. “Yes, Mr S? Is everything okay?”

”Oh, everything’s great! Listen, come and sit down. Oh, and close the door, if you don’t mind. I’m not used to hearing the kids in the hallway.”

Isabella chuckled as she sat down. “I can imagine.”

”Now, I know that a few weeks ago the cast list was released, and that you and Phineas were quite annoyed. I understand there was a lengthy feud between the two of you. How are things going with him?”

Isabella’s eyebrows shot upwards in fear of accidentally saying something she might regret. “Uh… good,” she said, swallowing.

”You aren’t arguing at all?”

”No, sir.”

”Well, I’m very pleased. There is one more thing I wanted to ask, however.”

Isabella breathed in slowly and deeply.

”Have you guys been practicing your lines together? Because if you have, I can tell you have great chemistry on stage. It’s almost as if you’re a real Romeo and Juliet.”

She let her breath out through her nose. “Yeah, we’ve practiced a few times. Phineas and I--” The bell rang before she could finish the sentence. _Saved by the bell, thank God._ “I should head to class. Thanks for the chat, Mr S.” She quickly got up and walked very briskly to her class.

_Hope he doesn’t think there’s something going on. Not that there is, it’s just weird for a teacher to know about it, that’s all._

As she reached her class, she passed Phineas in the hall. “Hey,” she said, hoping for only a short interaction.

”Hey, Isabella!” Phineas said, raising his eyebrows. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask if you wanted to come round and do the lines again. Just, y’know. More practice.”

”We are the leads, after all.” Isabella looked at the floor, and back up to him. “Sure. I’ll message you.”

”Awesome.” Phineas gave her a grin before turning the other way and walking to his own class.

_How is it possible we even had a rivalry? He’s so sweet. I can’t believe I never noticed before._

____________________

Phineas had been downstairs, mumbling to himself for a while. Ferb assumed he was pacing in the living room, buzzing through his lines while remembering there was only a month til the dress rehearsal was going to be performed. It made Ferb nervous too; he was still sorting out lighting choices and the sound system, and wasn’t even close to having it decided.

His ears perked up when there was a knock at the door and he heard Isabella’s voice. _They’ll go out to the backyard. They always do. I always see them from the window._

”Want a drink?” Phineas asked, downstairs, making his way to the fridge.

”Sure! Ooh, you have apple juice?” Isabella immediately recoiled. “Oh, my God. I’m sorry. It’s kinda childish to be fond of apple juice but it’s just too good, right?”

”I agree,” Phineas said, pulling the bottle out and filling two glasses. “It’s healthier than cherry soda, anyways.”

Isabella chuckled, and took a sip. “Outside?”

“Uh…” he looked up at the ceiling. “Nah. Let’s just stay inside.”

”Okay.”

Phineas sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s my brother. He thinks there’s something going on between us and it’s weird.”

”Is there something going on between us?”

Phineas’s heart began pounding. “Uh, I mean…”

Isabella smiled. “I’m joking. Come on, who cares if your brother thinks some weird relationship has sparked between two kids who hated each other for eleven years?”

The redhead looked up from his cup of juice. “I mean… I do, to be completely honest.”

Isabella’s face softened. “Me too,” she shook her head, sighing. “My friends have been asking about it too. They’re so nosey.”

”The amount of times I’ve told myself how weird this situation is is insane,” Phineas said. “It’s the most unlikely friendship, really.”

”You got that right,” Isabella said, taking another gulp of her drink. “So, how about those lines?”

Upstairs, Ferb was getting frustrated with not being able to hear the conversation. He’d pressed his ear to the floor and still not been able to hear anything. It was even his good listening ear, too.

He gave up in frustration, and blew through his nose like a bull. Leaving them alone seemed like the obvious choice but Ferb was somehow so determined to know what they were discussing.

Phineas began speaking louder, and Ferb immediately pinned his ear to the floor. He recognised it as a scene from the second act, one Phineas had gone over plenty of times. It seemed to be his favourite.

Rolling his eyes, Ferb pushed himself off the floor and grabbed his production notebook. It had all his drawings and notes and scribbles about his lighting choices, timing of music and even the timing of some dialogue. It was a bible.

He flicked through it, seeing what else he could do. The obvious choices had been decided, but he wanted it to be so perfect that some things he hadn’t even wanted to look at. Mr S would help him, and so would the others on the tech team.

Ferb was overwhelmed. He just wanted to have it done.

___________________

About an hour and a half had passed, and both Phineas and Isabella were pleased with their rehearsal.

Phineas snapped his fingers and looked at Isabella rather abruptly. “You know what I’ve just remembered? Those grilled cheeses!”

”Huh?” Isabella played dumb for a moment, pretending as if she hadn’t been thinking about it all week. “Oh, yeah! God, I could still totally go for one.”

”Awesome! Should we invite Ferb down for one too?”

”Yeah, let’s make it a party!” Isabella said, only wanting to hang out with the redhead. But they had ignored Ferb all afternoon, so it was only fair to include him.

Phineas darted upstairs and brought Ferb back down with him.

”You’re sure you don’t mind me intruding on your… rehearsal?” Ferb asked, looking Isabella up and down.

”Ferb, I invited you down here,” Phineas said, raising his eyebrow. “It’s fine, we’re good with our lines anyway. Now,” He walked over to the bench where a bag of bread sat. “Just cheese in your sandwich?”

Isabella chimed in. “What else could you possibly have in a grilled cheese?”

Phineas shrugged. “Pineapple?”

Isabella’s eyes widened. “You’ve opened up my eyes to the possibilities. Pineapple in a grilled cheese!”


	6. Chapter 6

_You might think it’s foolish… this chancy rendezvous…_

“Why are you singing that, then?”

Phineas snapped his head up. “What?”

Ferb smirked. “You Might Think. The Cars?”

“Had it stuck in my head from rehearsal. It’s when Romeo meets Juliet in the play. It suits them.”

“Yeah, you and Isabella are more like it.”

“Hey, shut up! What do you even mean, anyways?”

Ferb looked back down at his backpack. “Oh, just… you know.” He shrugged. “Do you want a ride to school or not?”

 _Weird shift in conversation. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, though._ “Sure.” Phineas grabbed his own backpack and followed his brother down the stairs.

The morning passed quickly, and Isabella met Phineas after the last period for a quick run through rehearsal. The set was being finalised and there was only a few weeks until the first matinee. The cast hadn’t even tried on their costumes, and it was at that point Phineas realised their acting might be the only thing to save the whole performance.

”Hey, you good?” Isabella’s voice snapped the redhead out of his thoughts. “You seem a little bit nervous.”

”Oh, I’m good. Just realised how unprepared the whole thing is.”

”I totally get it. The set is barely done and the costumes still need a whole month to get done. But I’m sure it’ll be fine. Mr S always has it under control, no matter what happens.”

”Hope that’s true.” Phineas’s mind strayed from the physical aspects of the play and to the romantic ones. He felt like he was ready to kiss Isabella, even if it meant something might change between them, good or bad. He just wanted to know what it would be like.

He snapped his head upwards. “How do you feel about kissing today?”

”Wh… what?” Isabella stuttered, immediately caught off guard.

”Like, for real. In our scenes. Did you want to have a go?”

Isabella wanted it too. She couldn’t do it in front of everybody for the first time though. She liked him too much for that to be their first kiss. “Listen, I do want to. Uh… for the play. But I would prefer if - for the first time - we did it somewhere without the entire cast and crew watching us?”

”Actually, yeah. That’s a good idea. Why don’t we rehearse somewhere at the weekend and do it then?”

Isabella nodded. “Perfect.”

_______________

Django hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders as he walked past Mr S’s office. The teacher inside the office just happened to look up and see Django as he passed by. 

Mr S quickly got up from his desk and went to the door. “Django! Hey!”

The boy in question looked surprised as his name was called out, but he went over to the teacher anyways. “What’s going on?”

”Come inside,” Mr S said, letting Django enter the dark room and closing the door behind him. “Take a seat, this won’t take long.”

”What’s happened? Have I done something wrong? Is it the play? I’m sorry-”

”No, no,” Mr S chuckled. “It’s about Phineas and Isabella.”

Django was taken aback. “… oh.”

”Do you know anything about what’s happening between them? If you don’t, that’s fine but I’m a little bit curious.”

”Well, I mean, Phineas did tell me something, but I dunno if I can tell you. He hardly even wanted _me_ to know about it.”

”Was it about him being… romantic with her?”

”Yeah,” Django admitted, feeling a slight tingle of guilt. “It was a while ago, I’m not too sure what the situation is now.”

Mr S clasped his hands together and pressed them against his chin. “Find out what you can. Even if it’s not much. I just want to know what’s going on between them. Their situation is just too weird.”

”Don’t worry, everybody has been saying that. And yes, I’ll report back with anything I find.”

”Awesome! Thanks,” Mr S said as Django stood up. “Have a good day, and remember rehearsal after school!”

The brown haired teen laughed. “How could I forget?”

___________________

_Wanna come round to mine to rehearse?_

Phineas smiled at his phone when he received the text from Isabella. _Of course_ , he texted back, his heart now racing. It was the day he’d been waiting for for so long now. Even if something bad happened after, just kissing her would be enough.

He packed his script, a water bottle and some salty snacks he stole from the pantry into his small backpack and locked the front door behind him. Only Ferb was home, but he really didn’t want his brother to be an observer. Not for this.

Phineas crossed the road and knocked on the Garcia-Shapiro’s front door. Isabella answered suspiciously quickly, and invited him inside.

”Hey,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder gently. “How are you?”

”I’m good, thanks. I bought some snacks!” Phineas said, pulling them out of his bag.

”Ooh, flattened pretzels! I’ll put them in a bowl.” She took the packet and a plastic bowl from the cupboard. “Just chuck your bag anywhere, doesn’t matter.”

Phineas looked around quickly and decided to put his bag on the couch. Isabella brought over the pretzels and put them on the coffee table.

”Right,” she said. “How do you wanna do this, then?”

Doing the kiss in context was definitely going to be easier for Phineas, but all he wanted to do was kiss the girl. “How about we just do the few lines beforehand and just go into it? Is… is that okay?”

Isabella smiled widely, creating creases at her eyes. “Yeah, yeah of course. Sorry, I’m just kinda nervous.” She chuckled softly.

Phineas cleared his throat. “Should we go from the end of You Might Think?” Isabella nodded. “ _All I want… is … you…_ Juliet, you’re gorgeous. All I want is to be around you, and to kiss you, and just… you.” Phineas and Isabella circled each other, left hands on each other’s waist.

”Well, why don’t you prove it?” Isabella said as they stopped moving. Phineas put his hands on her waist, and she put hers on his shoulders. Romeo leant down and Juliet elongated her neck.

Their lips met, and they melted into each other. This was so much better than either of them could have ever imagined. Isabella cupped Phineas’s cheek and the redhead moved his hands higher up her back, pulling her closer.

The couple separated from their kiss but still held each other close. Both of them were speechless. The quiet of the whole house and general lack of traffic outside made it seem as if Phineas and Isabella were in their own world.

”That was… nice.” Phineas said quietly, breaking character. A small smile formed on his face.

Isabella grinned. “Come on, both of us know it was better than nice.”

Phineas nodded, his cheeks becoming more red. “Listen, I don’t know what happened between getting our roles and now, but I’ve somehow felt so attached to you. I don’t know what it is! I just feel so in love with you. And I don’t know if you feel the same way but I just… I like you so much.”

Isabella’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. Then she sighed. “Dude, I’ve been trying to work up the courage to say the exact same thing to you.”

Without thinking about it, Phineas immediately hugged her. Isabella kissed him on the cheek and hugged him back.

”Well, now that that’s out of the way, I guess we can do the whole thing properly now, huh?”


End file.
